Welcome to start of the Spring Blog Carnival 2012! This is our second year of hosting this fantastic event and while there have been a few changes I’m sure you’ll have just as much fun! This event is hosted by myself, Lori at Pure Imagination and Angela from Reading Angel. It’s similar to a blog hop but yet totally different. The similarity is that you can win lots of goodies! Each booth in the carnival is hosting a fantastic challenge with amazing prizes. This event runs from May 7th-13th.This event has ended! We look forward to seeing you next year!

My booth is the Parasol Parade and I’m featuring all things Steampunk!

Welcome to the Parasol Parade! Sit back and admire the gorgeous steampunk attire…

Make sure you scroll all the way to end for the challenge as well as the list of all the other booths.

The fabulous people at Roc (Penguin) are sponsoring this giveaway. They are giving away 5 sets of the Clockwork Empire books by Steven Harper. This is The Doomsday Vault (my review) and The Impossible Cube(my review). This means there will be 5 winners and each winner gets BOTH books. Pretty awesome, right? I LOVED these books! (Please note that I am not responsible for the shipping of these items and will not be held responsible if they do not arrive or arrive damaged. However, please feel free to contact me if you do not receive them and I will look into the matter and do my best to assure they do arrive.)

Rules: Giveaway has endedThis is only open to US addresses. If you are international but have someone in the US who can provide their address you are welcome to participate. I apologize that we cannot provide shipping outside the US.

You must be 13 or older to accept these winnings.This ends on May 13th at 11:29 EST

Challenge:Giveaway has ended

The challenge for you is one of two things. You pick which one you would like to do. Or you may do both and get two entries instead of the just one.

Challenge One:Giveaway has ended

The books featured for the prize are The Doomsday Vault and The Impossible Cube. In the books inventions play a very big part. When people in this world are infected with the Clockwork Plague they can become crazy smart and invent some insane things. For this challenge describe something you would like to invent. It does not have to be steampunk-like. There are no limits. (Meaning it doesn’t have to be realistic. It could be a time machine, a way to stop time, a flying contraption… anything.) In a comment do your very best to describe this item in the best detail possible. You may also create a blog post for your entry if you would like. Remember to leave a way to contact you in the comments! (Email or twitter)

Challenge Two:

Because I love Steampunk fashion so much I would love to see some items YOU love that are Steampunk themed. Post pictures on your blog or make a pinboard on pinterest and link me to it in a comment. Please be sure to have the source listed if you post on your blog. (If you don’t have a blog or pinterest you may post on facebook as long as I can see it.) Remember to leave a way to contact you in the comments! (Email or twitter)

How the winners are selected:Giveaway has ended

Because I want to see some effort put into the entries I will pick a winner each for the most creative invention from Challenge One and the most creative from Challenge Two. The other 3 winners will be randomly selected from the remaining entries. Obviously you can only win once.

Thanks so much for stopping by the Parasol Parade! Be sure to stop by all the other fantastic booths listed below. Or by checking out the Carnival Map which makes it even more fun because it’ll feel more like a carnival!

Comments

I would love to invent reading glasses, but not any ol’ glasses. When you put these on you would be able to still read your book but instead of the letters your vision would produce in front of you a live action visual of the story. The best part is what ever you imagine it to be is the way that it would appear before you. Often times we are dissapointed because movies don’t live up to what we saw in the book but with this you control how it all appears.:) I want these now! haha

If I could invent anything it would have to be a teleporter, I have no choice in the manner. I have a ton of friends on the other side of the world and across the country that I barely ever get to see (and airplanes are so expensive). And if not a teleporter, definitely my own ship, one that could travel through air and water thus the oceans causing no true difficulties for me.

I’m doing challenge one:I hate taking showers (don’t get me wrong, I do it everyday!) It’s just so time consuming. I could be reading or writing reviews or doing something else fun in the time it takes me to shower and fix my hair. SO I would invent something that would make that process superfast. Like you just step into something and within minutes you are clean and your hair is fixed. Maybe even makeup too? lol

Challenge #1 I would invent a travel machine that could take you anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds. I love to travel but I hate long flights and car rides. I think it would be awesome to have breakfast in Paris. Lunch in China and be home for dinner!!!!!

Hmmm interesting! I think I would invent something that plug into your ear and export ideas into something coherent. Think how easy it would be to write blog posts if you had a machine that could translate all your brain’s excitement into a coherent review!

Judith, You are a freaking genius! I’ve often thought of that (or something that does that) so I love that you said that would be your invention!

Lori, I think you’re invention would be great because I hate taking the time to shower. I like it once I’m in it, but getting there isn’t so great. Too much to DO!

Bridget, I LOVE that outfit! Those wings are AWESOME!

Anne, YES! I was just thinking that earlier cause I wrote several chapters on my book in my head while I did dishes but I knew I would never remember all that once I got on the actual computer. Brilliant!

Wow, What a good question. I would like to invent some type of interactive machine where any book you read you could interact with it. For example you could be imersed into the book. Like after you read a chapter you could play it out. It would be cool to have alternate endings based on what you choose. Or be able to see it played out in front of you or in some type of glasses that you where. I know we have movies, but it would be cool to pay out any book you love and not just the few that you get to watch on screen.Thanks for the giveaway.

Love Steampunk! But more specifically, I love Girl Genius. I’ve been following GG comics faithfully for the last 4 or 5 years, but then I identify a lot with Agatha. I’ve been accused of humming while I’m creating and smiling with her “Coffee’s ready!” smile.

I’d like to invent a thinking, learning clank that helps me do all the hundreds of things I have to do.

I’d like to invent a machine that can transform words and sentences from books to hologram movies. I can choose or make actors/actresses, describe the settings according to my own description and imagination. That would be awesome.

Thanks for this awesome carnival, Having so much fun. I would invent a robo extendo arm. You know how just as you sit down to enjoy dinner or watch tv your kids are immediatley demanding something and you have to get up. I mean come on my meal is getting cold. So with my extendo arm I can just push some buttons and have it extend over into the kitchen and get what I need while I enjoy my dinner, would also be great for when you are in the car and your kid drops something on the floor and you can’t reach it from up front…melt down averted!

I would love to invent a sleeping tube that was super comfortable and you could hook up to it for one hour, but would give you a full eight hours of rest, so solving sleep insomnia problems, allowing full brain function, and expand the hours of the day that we can do things. With a baby and three other kids I am so sleep deprived these days.

I’m a big time embroiderer and the most difficult part of the process is transferring a pattern to you fabric. I want some sort of crazy invention that would scan a pattern (on paper or on a computer screen) and then send a electrical wave or something onto the fabric to make the pattern show up. Once you are done embroidering you take the invention and scan the fabric again to remove the pattern. Easy, fast, no special papers or pens, and no chemicals left in your fabric afterwards. kcarlson1152[at]hotmail.com

I live in New York City and have to lug my clothes to a laundromat, which is a pain and expensive.

So, I’d invent a really small washer/dryer combo (apartments in NYC are not spacious like a lot of shows and movies portray them to be). I’d make it a couple feet high and cylindrical. You’d put the dirty laundry in the top, it would get washed (and since this is a crazy invention, the water would get recycled internally), drop into the lower portion where it would be dried and then go into a basket below that section. Again, since this is a crazy invention, it would only need to be charged (like an iPod), not plugged in while it’s running, so you could move it anywhere and could go a decent amount of time between charges.

My next invention would be a steampunky robot maid to actually do the laundry.

I would invent a machine that uses the theory of time folding upon itself. It would allow the “spiritual” realm and that of now to interact, to fold not on top of each other but into each other. Therefore giving the power to change time, events, or just witness them – it would also give the power to communicate to the deceased and transport them to the here and now.

I would like to invent a gadget – like a little clicker – that would rewind time in short increments depending on how long you held down the button. That way, if you say something wrong, you click to rewind time a little and then say the right thing!